4 Reasons RadioShack Is Massively Failing

Just last year, RadioShack announced it had remodeled a handful of stores and had a new strategy.

But a new strategy isn't enough to fix RadioShack's problems, Warren Shoulberg wrote in a column on The Robin Report in December.

His column helps shed light on why sales fell 19% last quarter.

"It’s a store that has been passed by, with a format, merchandise mix and physical presence that no longer registers with the American consuming public," writes Shoulberg, who is the editorial director for several business publications. "There just aren’t enough batteries in the world to recharge Radio Shack."

He highlighted some of RadioShack's worst problems:

The stores are outdated. "If you want to see a vintage consumer electronics store from the 1990s, you don’t have to go visit a museum ... just head over to the nearest strip center and look for the Radio Shack sign," Shoulberg writes. "These are among the most tired looking, antiquated and out of fashion stores that exist in American retailing today."

RadioShack needs to revamp merchandise. Right now, RadioShack is mostly selling cell phones — a dangerously saturated category. "Why isn’t it more aggressive in tablets? Or satellite and Internet radio? It carries one 3D printer on its website; should it have more and be the pioneer in this category?" Shoulberg writes.

Employees are largely clueless. "They may be the most intimidating, least-female-shopper-friendly and all-in-all scary collection of people ever assembled by one corporate entity," Schoulberg gripes.

The online business isn't promising. "Amazon has cornered the market for online commodities, but Radio Shack clearly missed a once-in-a-business-lifetime opportunity," Schoulberg says.